Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

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Submitted by
alvin of Oklahoma
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: January 12, 2007

Bottom Line:

I was not impress with these speakers the sound is missing a lot of sound that I can hear on large floor standing speakers. I have PolksRms7200 which is better to me in music and home thearter than the Bose I took back the Bose and even brought back out my Wharfdale. The Polk's are in my bedrom and the Wharfdales are back in the saddle in the media room. If you buy the Bose, you must never had good speakers before if you keep them.

OK. I have a Bose Acoustimass System in my Home Theatre, which I also use for listening to music. I have the powered sub woofer. It is driven by a Yamaha vx 795 Amp.

I like these speakers........I know that they are not the best speakers in the world, or even in the price range (I am not claiming that they are), however for me I enjoy the amazing bass and they provide me a great Home Theatre experience. Everyone who comes to my home is blown away by the sound. Sure they are not audiophiles, and sure other brands may be better from a technical perspective, but the sound quality in my current room combined with the cool looks wins everyone over.

Listening to music is great (sometimes the sound can be a little thin in the mirange granted), but only noticable with certain types of music. (I have noticed flaws in other good speakers such as B&W as well).

I have noticed that with Bose the performance depends on the quality of your amp as well as the room acoustics and setup. The system sounds completely different (better )in my current (new house) than it did in my previous (much older) house.

I am very happy with them. All us Bose owners ask is that you leave us alone to enjoy the product without being "bagged" all the time on audio forums. I respect that people choose other systems please do the same for us.

If you are wondering why Bose does not get good reviews, then please read carefully.
Ever wonder why Bose does not post specs on their speakers? Here's why...
the "bass" module only goes down to 46Hz (most less expensive speaker systems will go down to 29 or 30Hz such as the Energy Take 5.2 and even cheap Paradigm speaker packages). The Bose Bass module reaches up to 200Hz. Here is where the problem begins... The little cube speakers go down to 280Hz. So you are missing sound from 200Hz to 280Hz. If you listen to music or use these for Home theater, then you will be missing a pretty important part of the sound spectrum. But wait! That's not it! The cube speakers only go up to 13KHz (Human hearing can reach 20KHz). Bose has decided for you that anything above 13Khz is not important. Well, like I said before... If you use these for music or Home Theater you will be missing a lot. Unbelievable! Due to the system's internal crossover, there is an audible gap from 200Hz to 280Hz and from 13KHz to 20Khz.

THAT MEANS ONLY 66% OF THE ACTUAL RECORDING OR MOVIE IS BEING PLAYED BACK TO YOU!!

This is the most outrageously overpriced speaker system I have ever heard. Please do yourself a favor and go listen to other products. If you can't go to a decent audio store to audition speakers and your ONLY option is Best Buy or Circuit City, then spend less money and get the Athena speakers or JBL speakers or Klipsch speakers. Much better options (not available at chain stores yet they are probably available at a decent audio shop near you) would be speaker offerings from Energy, Paradigm, Gallo(very small speakers but impressive sound), B&W... and great bargains on terrific subwoofers can be found if you look at SVS or HSU subwoofers (not extremely expensive but great bang for the buck).

Ask yourself this? Who told you Bose makes great speakers? Radio Commercial? (paid for by Bose) Magazine Advertisement? (paid for by Bose) Infomercial??? A person who owns Bose and has never ventured outside of Sam's Club or Best Buy to listen to speakers?

Please, before spending your hard earned money, do some research on these speakers. Search the message boards at audio websites such as Audiogon, Audio Asylum, Sound and Vision, AVS forum, etc. etc.

I don't expect everyone to take my word as Golden and I completely understand. Just do some research about these speakers!!! I probably can't post links but this will get you started...
look for discussion forums at Web sites such as Audiogon, Audio Asylum, Sound and Vision Mag, and AVS forum.

I apologise to all Bose owners but I have to say they are crap. The AM-10 is my first introduction to HT and I got it when I was in uni at the age of 19. That was more than 6 years ago. Now I have a system based on Classe SSP-60, CAV-150 and with B&W N803 fronts, HTM 1 center and N805 rears.

I know my current system is not comparable to the Bose AM-10 since they are totally in a different price group and class altogether. Nevertheless, I would strongly suggest NOT TO GET ANY BOSE ACOUSTIMASS SYSTEMS.

If you like their less-intrusive cute little shape of speakers (as opposed with the previous reviewer who said they lack manhood), then get the Lifestyle instead.

The Acoustimass range is crap. The Lifestyle is reasonably fair in performance and function but if you compare with other setups there are better stuff out there for the same money.

I work at best buy part time while I finish my master's degree in mechanical engineering. As a degreed engineer I have been trained to weigh the positives and negatives of any product, and not simply regard someones advertising campaign as the whole truth. Folks, let your ears decide, listen to a bose system, then listen to real speakers. Not only will the spec sheet on the speakers spell out the difference (frequency response, power handling, sensitivity etc...) But just go listen. The bose are just about the worst speakers I have ever heard, unfortunanetly working at best buy I have to listen to them everyday. The low range is non-existant on the satelittes and the subwoofer, im sorry the "acoustimass" module is just not convincing, the approach of the t-rex in jurassic park sounds more like a small woodland creature rather than the 40 ton king of the jurassic period. Even on my modestly sized JBL 400 watt sub the rex rattles my floor and shakes my walls. When I watched gone in 60 seconds the exhaust sounds and surround effects of the shelby chase scene made my heart race, and I ve seen that movie 15 times, but never had I had that experience. That is the difference, home theatre is meant to be EXPERIENCED, not merely observed.
Some people think the bose is a good solution for those looking for home theatre performance, however I am not convinced, the system doesnt come with a true center channel so the vocals are painful, yes painful to listen to.

All in all from the home theater aspect this is a system for those who would like to merely observe a movie in surround sound. For those who want to EXPERIENCE home theatre and never bother with the movie theatre again, setup a real speaker system. Seriously, bose has most people so brainwashed into thinking that those little cube jobs actually sound better than floor speakers. I live in an apartment where I have tastefully decorated around my 12" 400 watt sub, 600 watt front towers and 250 watt rear towers. In a 12' by 12' room. Thats experiencing home theatre.

On to music, if you have no idea what music is supposed to sound like buy a bose system. If you like you music reproduced accurately and cleanly stay as far away as possible from one of these. Demo this set of speakers with a good jazz, like a tenor sax, or play something bluesy from stevie ray vaughn or taj mahal. Then play some hard rock and rap. Then repeat this process for a real set of speakers, the point is anything else will sound better. The bose has poor low range response so anything with a bass guitar will be missing, drumming will sound more like a snare drum than a real set of drums. The midrange is just completely gone, like I said listen to what happens to a good tenor sax (minid abear) players music when you listen on these speakers. The high range is bordering on painful when at normal levels and the sensitivity is so poor its almost impossible to get lots of sound out of them (thank god).

My advice is to grow up and get floor speakers and experience your music and home theatre. Get a big sub and use it to augment your music and frighten you with incredibly deep, and moving special effects. The klipsch synergy series or the athena's are excellent options for setting home cinema/sound stage for the same price as the AM-10,15 or lifestyle 28. Floor speakers are not a burden and can be tastefully decorated around, or incorporated as the theme in you entertainment room. All it requires is a little creativity and open mindedness. However if you must have little baby speakers look at polk, b&w, klipsch or mirage. Please, dont be persuaded by the marketing machine, your ears wont lie to you, listen to what they tell you.
I wouldnt even put one of these system in my bedroom if someone gave it to me for free, nor would I wish one of these upon my worst enemy.